Feb

11

Seven failings of really useless leaders

Filed Under Character 

Keys to leadership lie within from TimesOnline discusses some of Steven Sonsino’s insights on the failing of leadership, he believes that:

“it is quicker, easier and more effective for us as managers to stop doing the things that demotivate people than it is for us to bolt on radically new techniques from acknowledged inspirational leaders…….People the world over are more likely to be disaffected, disengaged or demotivated by their managers than motivated or inspired.”

Steven identifies the following “seven failings of really useless leaders”:

  • Killing enthusiasm through micromanagement, coercion and disrespect;
  • Killing emotion by being aggressive, lacking empathy and not supporting work-life balance;
  • Killing explanation through incomplete or inconsistent communication;
  • Killing engagement with limited team goals and an insistence on managers dictating objectives;
  • Killing reward by rewarding the wrong things or doing it in the wrong way, for example, by offering a cash bonus to someone who is not motivated by money;
  • Killing culture, for example by ignoring differences in working cultures when managing mergers between organisations or by “punishing risk-taking” while trying to introduce a culture of innovation; and
  • Killing trust by making unfair decisions when hiring or rewarding staff.

These are great insights for leaders and managers. What’s interesting to me about Steven’s insights is how obvious they are and how quickly we overlook these basics.

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Comments

3 Responses to “Seven failings of really useless leaders”

  1. Erika Andersen on February 12th, 2007 6:29 AM

    Couldn’t agree more with your list. I think it’s nearly criminal the way we promote people into management without giving them a real sense of what it is or how to do it.

    When senior leaders in any organization actually believe that “people are our most important resource,” they begin putting resources into hiring and developing good people leaders. Until then - it’s just lip service!

  2. The AntiSyphus Effect on February 17th, 2007 5:06 AM

    Friday Favorites…

    Happy Friday! Sit for a spell, and enjoy some excellent writing from the business blogosphere: David Master of Passion, People and Principles has a thought-provoking piece on business ethics. Carmine Coyote of Slow Leadership reminds us that what goes …

  3. Raven on February 25th, 2007 4:18 AM

    Great post on “what not to do” as a leader! Thanks for the tips and links, I’ve referenced your post here: http://ravenyoung.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!17376F4C11A91E0E!3405.entry

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